|
Post by Smithy Gas on Apr 23, 2024 19:26:44 GMT
Have you got a problem with people from Kuwait ? I am chortling again over the fact that someone who demands a Bristolian can't actually spell Bristolian. Unless he actually wants an actual lion to be in charge. Yeah but only one of the geezers from Bristol Zoo because he has to be from Bristol.
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Apr 18, 2024 12:24:17 GMT
Hard to judge sometimes. Cheltenham keeper went down and we thought was acting. Later revealed he broke a bone in his foot giving pen away. Regardless there's no need for a team talk just because the goalie is injured, this form of dark arts seems more prevalent at our level now than in the Premiership/European Cups. But 99% of the time the goalkeeper isn't injured - the team talk is whats been planned and the goalkeeper injury is the only conduit to allow it to happen (as they cannot play on...). Anyway I think its a rule maker issue and they need to remove the incentives: 1. Allow physios on whilst game is in play. If you are really injured you get treatment, if you aren't injured you'll be up quick enough. If its bad play will be stopped. Works in rugby. Can't see how this can be exploited. 2. With the keepers you can't have a keeper be removed from a pitch if injured so have a temporary replacement for treatment. That'll nip the 70 minute injury team talk in the bud if your untested 19 year old has to go in goal for a few minutes whilst you are under the cosh! It makes sense so it'll never happen.
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Apr 10, 2024 19:54:25 GMT
Spent most of the last week defending Taylor and saying he needed time and probably still think that is the case despite those horrendous games. The players have checked out and there aren’t enough options to mix it up at the moment.
However I can’t get the parallels out of my head with Garner. Not in relation to football but the way he took over halfway through a season, contrast in style to the previous manager, went on a beast of a bad run (winless V goalless) and on both occasions we were/are entrusting the manager to rebuild in the summer - on a supposedly smaller budget with younger players.
We know how the first time turned out. We have an opportunity to use that experience this time round and there are still people in senior management at the club who can forewarn of it.
If they think Taylor is the man they need to back him. Publicly. Maybe not before the season ends but have the balls to stick to your plan and (as always lacking) communicate with us. Alternatively, based on the above have the balls to admit you made a mistake and act decisively and make the change.
Who’d be an owner?!
|
|
|
Clueless
Apr 1, 2024 7:11:13 GMT
via mobile
Post by Smithy Gas on Apr 1, 2024 7:11:13 GMT
I think people forget just how much of a poor singing Jevani Brown has been. He can’t be cheap and we expected him to bang in 10+ and look dangerous. He’s hardly looked league one standard baring a few magical tricks. It feels like due diligence is never done with our signings. They’re either injured or completely out of form. What would due diligence really have shown when he wasn't playing? Prior to the court case Pompey were prepared to pay £250K for him, it's plain odd how he's so poor. Although he's another player just given a game or two to prove himself then dropped after one poor game. Not sure he could have been any less effective at PV than Evans? It would show he only had half a season playing well at L1 level in his whole career and bumbled around in L1/2 doing nothing of note apart from that. He isn’t worth the aggro his signing caused.
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Mar 26, 2024 23:02:10 GMT
Cheap shot that. It’s for personal reasons. Can’t believe you’d stoop so low after your staunch defence of the monarchy.
Lock the thread.
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Mar 16, 2024 21:57:56 GMT
“I I I, me, me, me.” - RoadyReturns.
Tedious.
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Mar 7, 2024 13:52:42 GMT
Labour have had multiple chances to sort the problem, but instead of hiring more staff to provide what is a statutory council service, they (the Mayor and the council) have chosen to waste spend money on other (some would say vanity) projects. I don't think the new East Stand would come under this category because of the floor-space - it certainly wouldn't if there are the facilities we all hope there are as that would put the floorspace over 1,000sqm...but potentially under this we could apply to knock down houses we own and create new access points to the ground.... Cool story. Clearly at the time chronic cuts meant a (very!) shortsighted decision to reduce planning staff. This led to a loss of experienced planners who weren’t replaced for a number of years and thus the backlog was created. Further to this, other local authorities were more proactive and nipped things in the bud by hiring experienced external planning staff to kill backlogs where BCC put their head in the sand and let it build and build to an insurmountable problem - roughly the middle of last year where the head of planning was changed and a load of staff hired. Since then, the backlog is almost gone (will be by middle of the year) and the hired staff, whilst mostly graduate, are getting up to speed. This latest decision seems at odds with what is happening on the ground and under a labour run administration in an election year smells of politics. Oh and read the article. The Mem will always be a major application so the Greens will deal with it when it goes to planning…
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Feb 26, 2024 13:24:53 GMT
As a former business owner i would say that every so often you come across someone who you know would be great in a particular job. You could argue that you dont know what alternatives might be out there but its always a risk with someone who is not known to you as there are people who interview really well but dont deliver . With larger companies , they have protocols which include interviiewing for every position but quite often its just an exercise in wasting everyone's trime was gonna post the same thing I agree to an extent - I also run a business and my wife hires for larger companies. My main argument wasn't against GF per se but the general thrust of our recruitment policy - backroom staff and player - as its just been jobs for the boys for far too long. Someone mentioned Tommy and it's the perfect example as he joined because of DC and a connection. Martin Starnes knew Wael. Tom Gorringe possibly was an external hire? George Friend turned up at the club as he played a testimonial game, Chris Martin lived local etc. With George Friend it just stinks of a bloke in the building at the end of his career who's got an interest in staying in football after he hangs up his boots and because he played with the current manager its a good set up. What I want to hear is that we've been to see Brighton, Brentford, Bournemouth and Luton to see how they operate and what sort of staff we would need to do something similar and that George Friend is the first part of that process etc. I wont hold my breath but I am prepared to be shocked by the board and hope George is as impressive as his LinkedIn sounds.
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Feb 25, 2024 20:46:24 GMT
My only question (and we all know the answer don’t we…) would be did we conduct a full and thorough interview process for the position? It’s a role which should outlast managers and form a bedrock of the footballing operation as well as a DOF/Sporting Director etc. if we are going down that route yet it looks like we’ve just given it to someone in the building.
If George Friend interviewed and was the best person then fair play. However it just shows to me that nothing has really changed in how we go about appointing our most important staff.
One to ask at the Q&A?
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Feb 25, 2024 13:50:36 GMT
...so did the designers not plan it wide enough (they have plenty of experience with the various rules and regulations) or did the builders somehow build it narrower than the plans...? Probably something really stupid like measuring the area using the plans and thinking the concourse was 8 metres wide , but not realising you lose 3-4 metres due to the rake of the stand above ! Looking at the submitted plans: The stand has been designed with a 5M access and WCs in the concourse (which have enough head height). For whatever reason this isn’t the case on site. Unless anyone gets a tape out to work out whether it’s been built to plan it’s just speculation - the stand certainly looks like the planned structure and Arena would certainly know the regulations so…
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Feb 23, 2024 20:21:51 GMT
At least it's better than what it replaced. A low bar Is what they are going to name the new concourse drinking establishment due to its lack of head height.
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Feb 21, 2024 23:56:14 GMT
Good to see that the official site has updated the first team squad photos. www.bristolrovers.co.uk/teams/first-team/But disappointing to see how few players are sponsored. Sure we used to have the vast majority sponsored for both their home and away kits. Don't remember seeing any marketing this season to encourage sponsorship or maybe I missed it? You are spot on .... but once again the club hasn't helped itself. Shirt sponsorship used to be good business for the club and it was rare to see a player without some form of sponsorship from businesses or families - then it got changed to home / away shirts and you paid for both - but was still fairly popular. This season has been a real embarrassment - No one seemed to have any grasp on it until recently and now Ethan is working hard with prices dropped three times to try and encourage people to spend and I think its now £250 for the home shirt - but for what six games ? Your player being injured for most / all of those potentially ...? In addition there is little if any interaction for you and the player - in some cases if the player has left for the summer or has gone back to their parent club you might just get the shirt in the post or if they are available you all stand in a line and get the shirt handed to you on the side of the pitch. I suggested recently that surely there is a better way - Maybe allow the sponsor to be given the shirt from the player at the Quarters - chance of a picture and some coverage ? Its really not that difficult ... We sponsored a player in the promotion season. You are correct, got sent a shirt in the post after the season for our trouble and that was that. Oh, wasn’t even signed. Had to send it off to the player directly as he had gone back to his club. Apart from that shitshow, not once has anyone at the club tapped us up to do it again despite 3/4 years of sponsorship. It’s just bad business.
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Feb 20, 2024 21:57:21 GMT
Quandsah struggled with us last season on loan from Liverpool. But had made an impact for them this season?! 2 leagues above. Jed was in and out at Wealdstone and in his loan last season. Yet now our no.1, 2 leagues above. His argument is short sighted and flawed. He excelled in preseason and would be a cheaper option than Gordon. He also has potential to be sold on in time as is still so young. Given the opportunity he’d be a reliable option for years to come. Poor management again! He’s 22. Been here 4 years and under 4(?) managers and not one of them thought he’s progressed enough to become a first team player for Bristol Rovers. It happens. Time will tell if he goes on to fulfill that potential but it looks like it won’t be with us. Not many youngsters leave Rovers and come back to bite us in the arse… Ryan Broom looked decent the other night mind!
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Jan 17, 2024 12:48:51 GMT
But Matt Taylor doesn't have any links to Grimsby and we only raid former clubs for players so this must be false?
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Jan 2, 2024 9:34:58 GMT
This debate has a touch of the Ronaldo at Utd last season vibe about it…
All he did there was score goals because he was of an age where he couldn’t really get about any more so the fans and press got annoyed and started slating him because he was “just” doing the hardest thing in football and look how that ended up for Utd!
Is he a long term solution? No. Is he the only bloke sticking the ball in the net on a regular basis right now? Yes.
You can’t teach that and it’s baffling that you want to ditch a bloke like that. You keep him till the end of the season whilst planning a replacement for the long term and if he’s good enough you assess to keep him for another season surely?
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Dec 11, 2023 23:01:12 GMT
Seems a little like we are approaching Anarchy on this site, too many getting aggressive, if the players showed this much fight we might have won Saturday. I hope you all have a good Xmas, and hopefully in the new year we can have positive threads and decent debates about new signings. We are all Rovers fans and care about the future. f**k off!
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Dec 5, 2023 16:14:59 GMT
I think it would be helpful if the club released a statement regarding seating for the South Stand. However ; what can the club say or do ?. We live in a society of ' red tape' which all organisations use (business finance Private sector Public sector ). The club via Tom G have explained that Cheltenham is a ' test event ' Then more red tape for Building Regs and H&S. Therefore the club must pass these policies in order to progress to the next stage. If the club started selling tickets or building up expectations for the Festive games . And a penpusher or clipboard kid finds fault . The process would need to be revisted eg : Cheltenham 250 seats ; initially Pompey 250 seats. At this stage the club can only give Pompey 250 seats based on several criteria. If the Cheltenham game is a success and all the building / H&S is approved. Then the club can increase seating based on the Councils recommendations. Otherwise its all hypothetical. It's a bit like going for a car test and telling everyone you're driving tonight !. But Tom hasn't really has he? He sent a private message to someone who helpfully put it in the public domain. If nobody thought to message him or he didn't release information to his best mate Werton then nobody would be any the wiser and thats the issue here. All Tom or anyone else at the club needs to do is release an update stating the same facts from that private message. Job done. Everyone knows why they can't yet buy a ticket for a stand that looks complete. The communication on the current status of the stand is just a microcosm of the way we communicate about pretty much everything to do with the club. We don't bother. It's not good enough for most businesses let alone a public facing one where people are so emotionally attached.
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Nov 30, 2023 21:23:09 GMT
More importantly, how have so many people got a direct line to Karl Robinson?! Can we ask him anything? Does he like curry sauce or gravy on his chips? Neighbours or Home and Away?
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Nov 26, 2023 15:31:10 GMT
It’s not like it’s a permanent decision is it? We had a quartered shirt when we got promoted and that wasn’t that long ago.
I much prefer full quarters and think the reasons for not having it are crap but horses for courses - some people tend to like the blue backs. These people probably also wear socks and sandles.
|
|
|
Post by Smithy Gas on Nov 23, 2023 22:10:27 GMT
Word on the jungle gym is some potential gaffers aren’t keen on working with existing staff.
Whilst the new owners comments in this regard are noble and absolutely the right direction, most if not all managers want to bring in at least a number 2. Might be legs in it?
|
|